


Of Scars and Feathers

by HydraHiss



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wings, Avians, F/M, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, How Do I Tag, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, i have no idea what im doing, yall this is my first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-23 12:04:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13189707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HydraHiss/pseuds/HydraHiss
Summary: With Lance being the only person on the ship who hasn’t revealed his wings yet, people get suspicious. The flashiest person on the ship not flaunting his feathers? Something’s bound to be wrong, right?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> rip the only other time ive written fanfics were when i was 11 and wrote a single oneshot on wattpad. I’m more of an artist than a writer, but i been itchin to throw out this concept. No idea how long this will be, but i hope it’s somewhat enjoyable.

Lance wasn’t expecting to be thrown into space with only six different people (two of which are aliens) and mind-melded with a giant blue mecha cat. Especially since he was stuck with all of this for an indefinite amout of time. 

It wasn’t like Lance didn’t like space, or what he was doing, it was just that he didn’t know how long his secret could hold out when being in a contained area with the same people. Someone was bound to get suspicious of his lack of wings, especially if he had to keep his reputation of the flashy, exuberant one. 

See, back at home, he didn’t have to worry as much. His family all knew what he had to keep, and even at the Garrison, having wings was (thankfully) not a requirement. Hunk knew him for so long that he respected his boundaries and just igored the fact that Lance never showed his wings. Knowing Pidge, they might already know, or are just uninterested, which he is thankful for. 

But now, four extra people are added to that equation. Two of which are curious aliens, the other two avians who may have an idea of the wrong thing. 

See, it was common knowledge that some avians are born without wings, or wings so frail they had to be cut at birth. Sometimes the wings of an avian are too big-boned to lift off of the ground with, so the avian keeps them just for show. Most avians have the ability to fold their wings into their back as well, useful for situations where wings might get broken or torn. Though, being kept in the back too long could lead to wing cramps, and after pushing that limit, wings could get permanently damaged.

Lance kept his wings hidden throughout the day, making sure to bring them all out at least twice a day, but always in the privacy of his bathroom, where he knew he was safe from prying eyes.

Today was no different. After dinner, Lance returned to his quarters and started his nightly routine of a long shower and face masks. Once they were applied, he pulled out his wings to get started on preening the feathers. It would be easier with someone else to help him, since it was more of a flock activity, (he had spotted many different members of the team doing it together after a rough mission, he even saw Shiro letting Allura do his once) but Lance couldn’t do it with anyone. Not when he had four wings. 

The extra wings were a bit smaller than his main ones, and they were nestled right under them, slightly below where the bigger pair connected to his shoulder blades. Each wing was the same dark blue of his eyes, the lightest being near the top of his wings, getting darker all the way down to his primaries, which were basically a deep navy. Over the secondary and primary feathers of his wings were prominent white and black stripes, sort of like what lionfish stripes look like. Near the base of his second set of wings, where they connected, deep scars and slashes were prominent, sticking out and calling for the eye’s attention like a pigeon in a flock of eagles. 

Currently, most of his feathers were a mess. Since he didn’t trust that someone wouldn’t barge in on him when sleeping, he slept with his wings tucked into his back. Usually he let them out in the morning to stretch a little bit, but he had missed out that day due to waking up a bit too late. His wings were a bit stiff now, have being held in since yesterday night. 

Lance took the time to carefully run his hands through his feathers, taking out any loose ones and picking out any trash. He could go for a sand bath, but he barely remembered what they even felt like anymore, not being able to have even one after joining the Garrison, having to constantly keep his wings in. When he lived on the beach with his family he would have them often, and would always end up rolling around with his brothers or sisters by the end. 

Even though avians were sky creatures, he had always felt drawn to the sea just like he was with the stars. Where most avians would feel revolted or uncomfortable with their wings wet and feathers heavy with water, Lance loved it. Wings could be just as useful in water as they were in air, you just had to learn how to use them correctly.

After being lost in his thoughts, Lance realized he was pretty much done with his wings. Extending them as far as he could, he gave them a nice shake to set the feathers. Lance then began the process of curing his wings as flush as he could to his back, shivering a bit as they dissappeared and left his skin bare. He quickly finished in the bathroom and headed to bed, ready for the day to be over. Exhaustion took him over, claiming him as he closed his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Lance pines while the others watch.  
> Also some trouble in wing-hiding paradise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, i was actually not suspecting much of anything for the first chapter, but I already got a few comments and a buncha kudos! damn diggity thanks you guys. now, time for the pine! this chappy will be mostly in Lance view, but Keith may or may not be on spotlight as well.

Thankfully, Lance woke up on time the next day. He was able to get his wing stretches in (as much as he could with the small bathroom space) and some preening in before doing his beauty treatments. He liked to do them with his wings out so he could enjoy the freedom before he had to put them back. 

After finishing, Lance folded in his wings and put on clothes. He really meeded to find new ones, maybe next time they have to go to a space mall. It’s nice that the clothes can be cleaned quickly, but it felt so drab wearing the same ones over and over again.

Arriving to the dining room, he discovers that everyone is already there, bent over a plate of something that looked strangely like purple waffles? 

“Mornin’ Lance! I was able to make these space waffles with some of the things we got from the last planet we visited.” Hunk waved him over, holding out another plate with a couple of the peculiarly-colored waffles.

Lance grabs the plate, smiling. Hunk’s culinary skills never ceased to amaze him, even in space.

“Thanks bud!” He grabs a seat that ends up being next to Pidge and across from Shiro. Quickly stuffing a piece of waffle in his mouth, he savors the sweet flavor. It doesn’t taste completely like a waffle, but it’s not a bad taste either.

“These are wonderful and you should be a proud waffle mother, Hunk.” Lance waved his fork(?) at him, still with a piece of space waffle on it.

Hunk grinned. “Thanks! That flour stuff the aliens gave us was a little sweet, but not too much, so I thought it would make a good morning food.”

“Well you were right on so many levels.” 

Pidge had piped up next to Lance, typing away on their computer. The waffles were already gone from their plate, though Lance swore there was at least one left when he walked in.

Shiro was also finished, and set down his fork to look at the other paladins with _The Look_ , which basically meant ‘Well that was nice but we’re doing some training early today.’

And that’s exactly what Shiro said.

____________

Lance and the others had already changed into their training suits (something Coran remembered one day so they didn’t have to always be in paladin uniform) when Shiro announced what they were doing.

“Today is going to be more flight exercises,” Shiro glanced at all of the paladins, eyes landing on Lance for a little bit longer. 

“There will be a flying drone trying to shoot you and you have to avoid the lasers. Simple. You’ve all done this before.”

Shiro then looked at Lance, seeming to think. 

“Actually, since Lance won’t be able to participate, I have a better idea.” The gears seemed to be turning full speed in Shiro’s head in a way that made Lance scared for the other paladins. And a little bit for himself as well.

“Instead of a drone shooting, we’ll have our team sharpshooter shooting. Lance can get some arial target pratice and you guys can get some practice from a real person.”

The other paladins groaned at that, while Lance was ecstatic. At least he didn’t have to sit by and watch the other fly around and have fun. He finally got to do something that also required his best skill! Not that his best skill was super good, but he could make it work. 

Coran went off to get a practice gun for Lance so he didn’t shoot off his friend’s wings with his bayard while Shiro picked who went first.

“Okay, no one ever volunteers so I’ll pick who goes first.” He glanced around at them, before pointing. “Hunk, you’re up.”

Hunk groaned a little and started stretching his wings a bit before lifting off the ground, just as Coran was giving Lance his gun. 

Lance watched as Hunk lifted up with strong, broad strokes. He was quick at upward decent due to his large wings, which were the same chocolate coloring as his hair. Hunk’s wings also had some random spotting of lighter browns that tapered off near the ends on his primaries, making his wings look like they had a texture to them. Not that they didn’t, though. His wings were always soft and warm, which made him great for wing hugs.

Hunk was now hovering in the middle of the room, and he gave Lance a thumbs-up. “All ready here Lance. Don’t go easy just because you’re my best bro.”

“I won’t! I promise.” Lance was already aiming his gun, looking to hit the base of Hunk’s wings. Usually that was the place you would go for when trying to disable wings, since it was the connection point.

Hunk saw this and was already flying around to avoid him, more gliding in wide circles than anything. His wings were good for going up, but not so much agility and intense air maneuvers.

Lance took his aim and fired 3 consecutive shots, one of which missed and two hit Hunk, each in different spots. One on his leg, the other grazing the tip of his wings. 

He knew the leg one would be annoying, having hit his knee dead on. The lasers didn’t particularly hurt, but they more so gave an uncomfortable tingling feeling that lingered. Even if it grazed feathers, you would get a feeling in that area of the wing.

And Hunk did get that feeling, since Lance spotted his left wing dipping a little in surprise, and quick “shoot” coming from Hunk’s mouth.

_Well, I better shoot again, he asked._ Lance snickered at his own joke, then evened his breathing again and took aim.

Hunk was flying faster around the room now, making patterns to try to throw him off. Though, that wasn’t going to work. Lance shot 3 shots again, each one hitting Hunk’s left wing. 

There was a yelp of surprise and Hunk dipped a bit too close to the ground, close enough to where the room’s scanners caught him and said “Training: Fail” 

“Dang, that didn’t take long.Good job Lance.” Hunk was landing now, quickly jogging over to Lance. “Didn’t even see it coming, sharpshooter.” He smiled

He grinned back, then laughed. “You were good too, bud.” 

Hunk offered a quick smile before walking over to where the other paladins were. 

“Nice job, Hunk. You could try to fly a bit higher. I know it’s easier to see Lance, but when you get hit like that you need space to pull up with those big wings if yours.” Shiro approvingly patted Hunk’s shoulder, and offered a smile.

“Thanks Shiro, I’ll remember that next time.” Hunk smiled back, and went to stand next to Keith.

“Okay, Pidge is up next. Lance, be ready.”

Lance grinned back at Shiro. “What do you mean? I’m always ready.” 

Shiro just raised an eyebrow as Pidge lept up behind him, small wings beating fast. 

Pidge’s wings were small, like themself. With the carmel coloring, they looked almost exactly like Pidge’s hair, if not lighter. Their wings were a solid color, though Lance could suspect they might grow out to be gradient as well. Pidge still had a large amount of downy feathers still clinging to their wings, which also meant that Pidge was the biggest shedder. No one could go a day without finding small brown feathers littering the floor somewhere, or stuck in chairs. Though, it was useful for figuring out if Pidge had left their room that day and not stayed locked up.

Now, they were in the middle of the room, just as Hunk was, albeit a little higher. Pidge gave a thumbs down at Lance.

“I’m ready for failure.”

Shiro groaned out on the sideline, but said nothing. This seemed to make Pidge happy.

“Okay, let’s go then.” Lance lifted his gun as Pidge quickly started flapping around, dipping and rising like she was actually trying. He would have trouble with Pidge, since they were a smaller, faster target, but he could get used to it quickly. 

His first few shots missed entirely, prompting a laugh out of Pidge. “Try harder, then you might get five miles closer!” Lance huffed and tried to aim again, but Pidge was tricky. He decided to do what he and Hunk did with the water monster that one time, though it was hard. 

He finally got some hits in when Pidge started to slow down a little, seeming to tire from the strenous task of switching directions constantly. They fluttered down to the ground, huffing.

“Lance, you ass, you waited for me to get tired.” Pidge stuck their tongue out. 

“Language!” 

“Yeah okay _Space Dad_ ”

Shiro raised an eyebrow for the second time that day. “You guys still stuck on that?”

“Hey! I’m not involved in this!” 

Keith scrunched his nose up, squinting accusingly at Shiro. It was kind of cute. _No, it is not. Stop your pining ass right there, brain._

“Whatever you say, Emo Child. I know he’s Space Dad to you too.” Pidge was snickering now.

Keith huffed, but looked away and saying  
nothing. Pidge fist pumped. “One point to the Memelord!”

Shiro regarded Pidge with squinted eyes for a moment, then decided to not say anything more. “Okay, Keith, you’re up.”

Keith was up in no time, quickly going to hover in the middle of the room. Out of eveyone, Lance probably liked Keith’s wings the most. Yes, Shiro’s large, dark gray wings were nice, the white patch near the elbow of his wings seeming to mirror his hair, but Keith’s were a whole new level. Where most wings did end up the same color as the owner’s hair was, there were some instances the parents had such different wings than their hair that the child was like that as well. (He was one of those isntances and then some)

Keith’s wing pattern was that of a peregrine’s, stripey and everywhere. The back of his wings were a nice reddish color, and the inside was a paler red, with lighter, faded markings. Keith gave him a thumbs up, and then shot off, giving Lance no time to even lift his gun.

Keith flew in strong but quick strokes and quick twists and dives. He was all power and strength, flying in a way that made Lance want to just uncover his wings and fly with him, not caring what they might think. Lance hadn’t flown since a couple times at the beginning of his time in the Garrison. He had snuck out and flown in the desert, but then realized he might get caught, and stopped completely. What would they do if they found an avian with _four_ wings? He didn’t want to find out.

“Hey! Quit pining over your boyfriend and shoot already!”

Lance yelped and accidentally pulled the trigger as Pidge yelled in his ear. 

“Geez, what was that for!?”

“I don’t know, you keep staring at him like he’s a fallen angel. Maybe he is to you, but we’re training right now.” 

Lance quickly denied it and pushed Pidge away, sputtering. They were snickering as they scuttled back over to Hunk, offering a high five. Hunk took it, that traitor.

He huffed angrily and pointed his gun again. Keith was quick and agile, probably the best flyer there, but he wasn’t as random as Pidge. Lance fired many shots, some Keith dodges, but other grazed random parts of him. He stopped narrowed his eyes at Lance, giving him a teasing ‘Hah, you can’t get me’ face before flapping off. 

_So that’s how you wanna play it, huh?_

Lance grinned and aimed again, competitive nature taking over. It took a few minutes and a few more shots, but he was soon able to down Keith by hitting him twice on the base of his right wing. He did a little whoop of victory and pumped his gun high above his head before calling over to Keith, who had just landed.

“Not bad, huh mullet?”

Keith huffed and stalked off to Shiro, muttering something along the lines of “It’s not a mullet.”

Shiro gave a small laugh and a smile of approval at Lance, who soaked up the leader’s unsaid compliment like a sponge. 

“Okay team, take a break. I’ll be doing my own exercises today. You guys can cool off for a bit.” 

Sighs of relief swept through the room, and Lance hurried out, heading to his own quarters, waving quickly to Hunk and Pidge.

____________

Once in his room, Lance flopped on his bed. He didn’t do too much of strenuous activity as the rest, but he still had to run around the floor to get good shooting angles, so it counted.

Lance decided to make this day one where he got extra wing stretching time. Taking off his traning clothes and putting on pants, (his shirt was not made for wings) Lance sat in the middle of his room. He didn’t bother with the bathroom, knowing Hunk and Pidge would be tinkering in their hangars, Shiro was exercising, and Keith was probably being emo in his room or some deserted corner of the castle. He wasn’t worried about Allura or Coran.

He let his wings free, stretching each one before stretching them all together, and giving a couple flaps. He then stood and strected himself, raising his arms high above his head and groaning as he heard bones pop, his wings shaking with how far he was extending them, the tips brushing the ends of his room. 

His wings weren’t exactly big, more so that they were long, practically his body height and some change for the main set, the others being about a quarter of the main ones’ size.

He was just about to start grooming when he heard a knock on his door. Lance quickly blanched, trying to pull in his wings as fast as possible, though the process took time, and even more so with an extra set of wings. 

“Lance? You there?” 

It was Keith.

_Shit._

____________

Keith really didn’t want to be doing this, but everyone else was busy. Allura and Coran were both going over plans to which planet they needed to visit next. Shiro was already exercising and he didn’t want to disturb him. Hunk and Pidge were in the green lion hangar, messing around with some stolen Galra equiptment, leaving Lance his only choice.

He wanted to spar a bit before lunch, and he knew Lance probably wasn’t as tired as the others either, seeing as he was just shooting on the floor, not flying. But that didn’t mean he would be up to practicing with Keith. He kind of hoped he would, but Lance was an oddball to him. He could be happy and flirty for one second, then screaming at him the next. Their so-called “rivalry” was something Keith wasn’t sure about, but went along with anyways.

Keith arrived at Lance’s quarters, and hesitated a bit before knocking.

“Lance? you there?”

“Uh, wait a moment, I need to just...” Lance trailed off, his voice strained.

Was something wrong? It sounded bad, and though Keith wasn’t one to intrude, he couldn’t help the spike of concern he felt.

“You good in there? Something wrong?”

There was a muffled huffing sound, something that sounded like a laugh.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Keith felt apprehensive. Lance was a very expressive person, through voice and movement. Though he couldn’t see him, his voice was not it’s usual energized tone.

“Yeah okay you don’t sound fine, I’m coming in.” Keith pushed the scanner next to Lance’s door. They were only supposed to take the room owner’s hand prints, but Pidge had made it so it took everyone’s in the castle, probably so they could snoop. It was useful sometimes, though. Like now.

_“Shit, Keith don-_

But it was too late, the door opened, and Keith saw Lance. But something was different.

On Lance’s bare back, (Keith noticed he had no shirt, and tried not to pay attention to his warming face) there was a set of long, beautiful blue wings. But there was also another set, halfway settling into Lance’s back, still slowly sinking in, though the owner of them had froze. 

Keith stared for a moment in shock before his eyes trailed up to Lance’s face, who was looking at him with the most horrified expression he’d ever seen on him. 

Lance gulped.

“Well shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow that was long. i needed to fit all of those descriptions in there somehow. lol yeah i know, wing reveal already on the second chapter, but its a cLIFFHANGER *evil laughing ensues*  
> also, if you dont wanna wait for my art, Shiro’s wings are based on mockingbirds. im really familiar with them because theyre my state bird and are practically everywhere, so i thought of them.
> 
> hope yall enjoyed this! kudos and critique always appreciated. im trying to figure out how my dialogue format will be, so please tell me if its ok or not!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance freaks out while Keith is slightly amused but also freaking out.
> 
> Klance ensues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for taking so long with this chapter! I’m thinking of making a schedule for posting so i can keep up with this. I also had some trouble deciding who’s POV i would keep the wing reveal in, so i just wrote an outline for both and chose my fav.  
> I hope everyone had a happy new year as well!

“Well shit”

Keith stared at Lance’s back, or more so his wings. His four wings. The smaller ones were gone now, though. The larger ones were already trying to settle in Lance’s back. And Keith finally broke.

“YOU HAVE FOUR WINGS WHAT TH-“

“SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP.” Lance was screaming over him, looking at him in a panic again and backing away.

“Lance.”

Lance blinked at him.

“You have wings.”

Lance nodded.

“You have... _four_ wings.”

Lance nodded again, shakier than the last time.

“So you think I’m a freak now, right?”

Keith’s eyebrows furrowed as he felt himself getting a sort of angry type of worried.

“What? No, why would I think you’re a freak?”

Lance shrugged. “Because I have four wings. Even having no wings is more normal than this. I’m some weird rare creature or somethn’ and you don’t think I’m, like, a freak? You seem angry”

“No, it’s just that I’m confused why you didn’t tell us earlier. No one here would think you’re a freak, especially if we’re literally in space and meeting tons of different aliens that look weirder than you.” Keith was walking over to Lance now, and he had no idea why. It just happened.

Lance’s eyes followed him as he walked closer. “But I’m still a freak compared to other avians. I mean, we compare aliens to normal Earth things, so why wouldn’t I be like that?” He huffed and say down on his bed, hard. 

“Well, if it makes you feel better, I don’t think you’re a freak.” Keith sat next to Lance, keeping his eyes on the floor. “It may be a new concept that there are quad avians, but it doesn’t mean you’ve gotta be an outcast.”

It was silent for a moment, and Keith dragged his eyes up from the floor to Lance’s face. His was looking at Keith with something of endearment, a look that made Keith aware of his slowly warming fave.

Lance quickly looked away, staring at the door of the room, and chuckled. Which totally did nothing to Keith’s heart. 

“Wise words from the mullet.” Lance glanced at Keith again. “Thanks for not judging me too hard, I guess.”

Keith huffed a laugh. “No problem, though I wasn’t really judging you at all.”

“Well, even if you weren’t, can you...keep this quiet? I still don’t think I’m ready to tell the team yet.” Lance was twiddling with the edge of one of the blankets on his bed, seemingly nervous.

Keith stared for a moment. Did Lance think he was really going to tell the team after him seeming to make an effort to hide his wings? 

“Of course not, it’s your secret to tell, not mine.” Keith offered a smile when Lance looked back up at him. He got a smile back.

“Okay, I’m done being weird and quiet. C’mere.”

Keith gave a small sound of surprise when Lance leaned over and wrapped his arms around him.

“What are yo-“

“Do you not know what a hug is? I’m thanking you in the form of physical affection.” Lance scooted closer and tightened his hold.

“Yeah okay.” Keith hugged Lance back, smiling to himself on his shoulder.

When Lance pulled back, he grinned. “Well, I guess this is my bonding moment.”

Keith blinked. “Wha-wait. You REMEMBER?!!”

Lance jumped further back on the bed, hiding under a pillow. “UH, NO.”

Keith glowered at him, though it was more teasing than anything. “You totally DO! You just don’t want to admit it.”

“Uh, excuse you, Mr. I-Cradled-You-In-My-Arms, I’m telling the truth. I was half out after surviving an EXPLOSION.” Lance was giving him a pointed, albeit playful, look.

“Mhm. Okay.”

“You still don’t believe me, do you?”

“...” Keith was turning his back to Lance, crossing his arms.

“Keeeeeeeith.”

“Nope.” Keith popped the ‘p’ when he said it, turning back to Lance with an eyebrow up.

“Well no one’s forgetting this bonding moment, so THERE.” Lance threw his pillow at Keith, which was easily deflected.

“That...doesn’t even make sense. Of course we’ll remember this. No one was injured.” Keith was confused. 

Lance seemed to pick up on this and chortled as he picked up another pillow and started beating Keith while he was distracted. 

Keith didn't actually seem to care until he was knocked on the floor. 

"OKAY, that's it. You're going down, cargo pilot." Keith picked up the pillow Lance had originally thrown at him and started hitting Lance back. 

Lance laughed, another thing that made Keith's heart want to jump into his stomach. This boy was gonna give him a heart attack, and he would be perfectly fine with it. 

Soon, after the grueling pillow war, they both fell back on the floor, laughing. Lance halfheartedly chucked his pillow, which landed on Keith's wing. Keith threw his back, and it slapped the side of Lance's face.

"Okay, I think we're done." Lance grabbed the pillow off his face and let his hand flop next to him. Both boys were breathing hard, the sound filling the quiet room.

"I think it's about lunchtime, you wanna go to the kitchen and see if Hunk has anything?" Keith turned his head to Lance, who was already looking at him.

"Yeah, sure. Just lemme put a shirt on."

____________

Lance and Keith walked into the kitchen together, laughing. Lance told a horrible joke, so bad it was funny, and it somehow prompted a laugh out of Keith. He had no idea how, the joke still sucked.

Hunk was already there, making things that resembled sandwiches. 

"Hey guys. Looks like you two are actually enjoying each other’s company for once. Good.” 

Lance just snorted while Keith tried to stifle a laugh next to him. After what happened in the bedroom, Lance had seemed a bit more open to joking around him. 

_Don’t say it like that, brain. Makes it sound weird_

Lance sidled up next to Hunk, trying to grab a sandwhich. Hunk slapped his hand, and Lance walked back next to Keith, pouting. It was cute. 

_I swear to God, brain. Don’t DO THAT_

“Wow, not even letting a starving man eat. You’re so mean, Hunk.” 

“It’s for the team. You’ll get some when everyone else does.”

Lance pouted some more, and slung his arm around Keith’s shoulder. Which set off alarms in his head, because that was a lot of physical touching in public, and wow, his arm was _warm_ , and-

“My man Keith here wouldn’t let me starve like this, would you Keithy boy?”

Lance was looking at him expectantly, like he wanted him to agree. Keith snorted.

“If we were starving and I only had enough food for one person, I would eat it.”

Lance gasped dramatically, taking his arm from Keith’s shoulder and throwing it over his forehead, stumbling back and hitting the wall.

“Betrayed. BETRAYED I TELL YOU. Space Dad would not condone this treacherous behavior.”

“I wouldn’t condone what behavior?”

Shiro was peeking his head in the door, looking around.

“Keith and Hunk would let me _starve_. Those meanies.” Lance punctuated his elementary level insult by huffing and turning his head away from them.

“Oh, so nothing serious.” Lance squawked at that, but Shiro ignore it. “I’m just here to say we’re all here and ready for lunch.”

“Okay, I’ll be out in a second. Keith, Lance, since you two intruded on my kitchen, you gotta help me get this stuff out.”

Lance stood straight and saluted. “Sure thing sir!” Keith rolled his eyes at Lance’s behavior, but said nothing more.

This was gonna be a long day.

____________

“When was the last time you flew?”

It was the end of the day, and Keith and Lance were laying on the floor of Lance’s room and staring at the small “stars” on the ceiling. Lance had bought them at a market. The glow-in-the-dark sticky dots were white, and some even pulsed at certain times. It was quite nice, really.

Lance sighed. “At the beginning of the year in my first year of the Garrison. I figured out how to sneak out, and flew in the desert for a couple weeks before realizing that they probably had air monitors. If they found an avian with four wings, well, I’m not sure what they would do to me.”

Keith let the information sink it. The Garrison would probably try to test him and such if they found out, which could be pretty bad. But from what it sounded like, Lance hadn’t flown in at least a couple years. That sounded terrible.

“Do...do you want to fly again?”

Lance let out a bitter laugh at that. The sound made Keith flinch.

“Of course I want to. What avian doesn’t want to fly? But I can’t here. I might get caught, and I’m just not ready yet.”

Keith hummed in understanding. It would probably take some time, but he knew Lance would come out sooner or later. He just had to sit there and support him until he did.

“Do you think I can...see them again?”

Keith turned his head to where Lance’s form was illuminated by the bleak light, waiting. He was awfully quiet for some time, leading Keith into a panic.

“Not if you don’t want to, it's just, I don’t know, they looked pretty and it seems cool you have four and...”

Keith trailed off as he watched Lance start to laugh, rolling on his side on the floor. He got a peek of Keith’s face and started laughing harder, causing Keith to grow angry. What did he do?

Lance was breathing hard now, letting out random giggles at times. He looked at Keith again, smiling. “Sorry, it’s just that you panicked so hard when tou thought you offended me, it was kind of cute.”

Keith’s heart stopped for a split second, trying to process what Lance had just said. He called him....cute??

Lance also seemed to realize what he said, because he shot up into a sitting position and quikcly changed the subject.

“SOOOOO, you wanted to see my wings?”

Keith slowly lifted into a sitting position and faced Lance, nodding. His brain was still short circuiting from the statement and Keith didn’t think he was ready for words yet.

Lance scooted around so his back was facing Keith and quickly yanked off his shirt. Keith blushed furiously as he eyed Lance’s back. Yeah, Lance looked like a skinny pole, but he definitely had muscle. Training constantly for a war would do that. Lance had also been a big swimmer in the Garrison and even before that, according to Hunk and Pidge, so his shoulders and chest were broad. 

Lance stretched, and carmel skin rolled smoothly over hard muscles. Keith tried not to stare too hard but _shit he was so fucked_. Lance seemed to sense this and looked at Keith over his shoulder, smirking.

“Like what ya’ see, Samurai?”

Keith tried for my most unimpressed look, but knew his wings were puffed in embarrassment and probably gave him away. He still tried, and stared directly at Lance’s face. “What am I supposed to be seeing?”

Lance huffed and scrunched up his nose, turning back around, and Keith continued to oogle Lance’s back, until he saw dark blue rising from it. His eyes were drawn straight to the wings, feathers taking shape and folding out. As soon as two wings were out, another pair followed, a bit lower than the first.

With all four wings out, Lance turned back around to Keith, but still looked away. 

“Happy now?”

Keith had no words, as he was still staring at Lance’s wings. They were beautiful, the feathers picking up the light of the small dots and shining iridescently, in different hues of blue. Keith scooted closer, trying to pick up all the details.

When he was finally able to tear his eyes away from Lance’s wings, he looked at his face. Lance was staring at him with an unreadable expression, seemingly waiting. Keith stared back, offering a small smile.

“Your wings are very pretty.”

Lance’s face went red then, eyes widening. He seemed very surpised, and quickly glaced away, looking everywhere but Keith’s face. 

“Uh, y-yours are too.”

He was stuttering under Keith’s stare, and still flushed. It was funny how Lance was all flirty and ambitous, but never knew what to do when people reciprocated.

“Well, I have to groom my wings now, since I usually dont have time in the morning.” Lance was already folding a smaller wing close to him, running his fingers through it.

“I could, uh, help if you wanted?”

Lance glanced at Keith, fingers stopping just for a moment before continuing. “Oh...well sure, but that also means I owe you.”

Keith chuckled and stood, walking behind Lance and sitting back down. “I’ll take you up on the IOU later.”

He tentatively reached out a hand to one of Lance’s larger wings, hesitating before burying his fingers in soft fluff. For how streamlined and thin Lance’s wings looked, they had more underlying feathers than he was expecting. Deftly moving his hands through the dark feathers, Keith smoothed out knots and strays. 

“You want me to pull out the bad ones?”

Lance stopped, seeming to think for a moment. “Sure, but warn me before you do.”

“Okay.”

They continued on in silence, the only sounds being Keith giving Lance warnings before pulling feathers and Lance giving quite murmurs or hissing when a stubborn feather was pulled. It took some time to finish all four wings, but when they were done, Lance grinned. 

“It usually takes me longer, and it’s hard to reach the back when I have another wing in the way. Thanks, Keith.”

His smile was so genuine Keith felt his heart melting into a puddle, but then realized something. 

“Wait, that took forever! And you say it takes longer?!” 

“Yeeeup, it takes longer than that.”

“I have no idea how you’ve been doing this alone for years, but it probbaly explains all the bad feathers near your base.” Keith was impressed. Most parts of his wings were in tip-top shape. With the exception of the connection points of his wings and back.

“Yeah, it’s so hard to reach. It hurts and I have to strain to get it, so I only do it occasionally, when I’m not sore from training.” Lance gave a sour look at his wings, like he was remembering something bad.

Keith really wanted to ask about the scars decorating the base of Lance’s lower wings. When he was doing that area of Lance’s wings, his hands had roamed over them more than once. Lance was stiff when it happened, but soon relaxed. Keith was gentle in that area, having to pull tons of feathers out. After he had finished that, he took time to smooth out the small feathers there as best he could, carefully running his hands over the scars and hoping Lance wouldn’t notice.

Keith smiled for what felt like the millionth time that day. For some reason Lance just did that to him, and his extended time with him that day just made it more obvious. Lance was now twiddling with some of his larger pulled feathers, smoothing them out and setting then down in a pile. 

“Hey, you mind if I take one?”

Lance looked up, bewildered. “Take one what?”

Keth gestured to the pile of feathers next to Lance. “One of your feathers.”

Lance blinked, staring at him. For some reason he started blushing, the red slowly crawling up his neck. “You know thats...uh...”

“What is it?” Keith was confused as to why he was seemed embarrassed about it. He just wanted a feather.

“Weeeeeell....” Lance was twirling the feather in his hand faster, seemingly nervous.

“Well?” Keith was inpatient now. What was so bad about a single feather. It wasn’t like Lance didn’t have tons. Four wings worth.

“I guess no one ever taught you, huh? I thought at least Shiro would, but it’s kinda sad he didn’t.” Lance’s voice sounded playfully pitying, but his face was still red, and he wasn’t looking at Keith’s face anymore.

“OH MY QUIZNACK COULD YOU JUST TELL ME WHAT IT IS??”

Lance jumped at his outburst, but brushed it off with a small huffing laugh. “Okay, okay, impatient. It’s a...courting ritual. You give whoever you’re trying to court your feather as a gift. I’m still surprised you have no idea what they are.”

Keith let that process. He knew courting rituals existed with avians, and was a widely used thing. He just never knew what the specific actions were. And he had just _asked_ for Lance to do an action for him. Oh.

Lance was looking at him shyly through his lashes, still blushing up a storm. “Soooo, yeah. Giving feathers is a courting ritual. For lovers. Yeah.”

“Oh.”

“Mhm.”

The air was awkward for a moment, neither boys saying anything. Lance broke the uncomfortable silence first. 

“Well, it’s late in space time, so I’m gonna sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow?” Lance was standing now, stretching his arms and wings, bones popping.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll go too.” Keith stood, shaking out his wings and letting the feeling come back to his legs. 

He was suddenly hit with an idea, and thankfully, Lance was turned away from him, folding in his wings to get ready for bed. Keith quickly carried out his plan and started to head out, the door opening automatically for him.

“Keith?”

“Yeah?” Keith turned back around.

“Thanks.”

Lance gave a soft smile, and waved his hand before the door closed.

_He was so fucking gay it hurt, and Keith was fine with that_

____________

The next day, when Keith woke up and started preping to go to breakfast, he found a large dark blue feather sitting right on the inside of his door with a note that read:

_‘Thanks for the feather, Samurai.  
-Lance  <3’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this entire chapter was basically self-indulgent soft pining klance and im fine with that. some development with their relationship and such.  
> also woah boy, guys thanks for all the support and comments! its fun seeing your reactions. 
> 
> as i’ve said before, critique and kudos are much appreciated! if i’ve made any grammar or spelling mistakes, please say so.

**Author's Note:**

> well diggity dang darn, it’s over already. I know, there wasnt much action or even dialogue between people. this chapter was more for world-building and setting up Lance’s “predicament”. the next chapter will be out soon, filled with talking and some instances of feels hitting Lance’s bi heart. 
> 
> honestly, i have no idea how to format (im referencing other good fanfics i like) and i type pretty fast, but always have errors. i go over my work, but i still may have typos, so if you see any feel free to comment! also, kudos and critique are always welcome, jesus knows i need some help with this.
> 
> art may br added later to be references for the wings


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